The south end of Colchester Pond used to be farmland. When the dam
was
put in in 1960 the water flooded this area. Since the soil was so
fertile,
many luscious plants grew in this wetland, and it is now home to an
abundant
amount of wildlife.

Some of the plants that grow here are easy to identify. Bur reed, a
fairly
rare plant, can be found in this pond. It has prickly seedpods with
many
points coming out of it. Each point is its own individual fruit.
Duckweed
is another common plant here. It is a tiny green floating plant with
roots
hanging down into the depths of the water where it gets all of its
nutrients.
One of the tall rushes that grows in Colchester Pond is juncus. This
plant
is tall with a thin green stem, and it has brown seeds at the top. Many
people know cattails, but you may not know how to tell the different
varieties
apart. Narrow reed cattail has two separate parts at the top. The
bottom
part is thicker and darker, the top is lighter in color and is fuzzier
with
seeds. In the broad reed, or common cattail, the two flowering parts
are
joined. This common variety is easier to find at Colchester Pond. One
of
the most common plants that we found in this wetland is pickerel weed.
This
plant has purple flowers and wide green leaves, and it is a couple of
inches
in height.

A MARSH PLANT....

Plants that grow in wetlands are very important to the wildlife and
us.
They provide a habitat and refuge for many types of wildlife and birds.
They also provide a food source for other animals. The plants are also
productive
in other ways. Not only do they produce oxygen, they create a buffer
zone
and absorb excess nutrients that flow in from agricultural or urban
areas.

The birds we saw around this wetland included seagulls, various
swallows,
sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, cormorants, great blue herons, a
bittern,
eastern peewees, ovenbirds, and ospreys. If you look near the west of
this
wetland area, there is an osprey nesting box which has not had any
ospreys
in it recently, but there are ospreys in the area, so maybe you'll be
lucky.
Also if you look on the top of nearby telephone poles, you may see
seagulls
and cormorants, which like to sit here.